Perio-dontal surgery has acquired the status as a viable technique in order to eliminate gum disease and to thereby minimize the premature decay of gums and teeth. However, a great number of dental practioners still fail or at least shy away from performance of such intricate surgery as a result of not only their lack of knowledge of adequate techniques but also as a result of the complications which can arise utilizing various presently known perio-dontal surgical instruments such as a Kirkland Knife or Smith Curet. These latter two instruments form an open-ended blade to cut the gums or diseased gingiva in order to get at or remove diseased gums or a portion of the alveolar bone. These open ended blades present a safety hazard in that blood vessels, nerves, cheeks or tongue may easily be accidently or inadvertently severed during their use. Also these instruments do not provide an easy access to difficult areas of the mouth such as lingual of upper anterior teeth or distal of posterior teeth. The instant invention provides a new perio-dontal surgical instrument which allows easy manipulation and accessibility to all teeth in the mouth without running the risk of inadvertently severing blood vessels, etc. The instant invention also provides a surgical technique wherein no open ended blade need be placed within the mouth of the patient and thus provides much less anxiety to the usually pusillanimous subject of the surgery. Previous perio-dontal techniques have required even those of extreme superior skill in the surgical techniques to continually insert, maneuver and remove instruments such as the Kirkland Knife or a Scalpel from the patient's mouth. In contradistinction, the instant application provides a dual purpose or even a multi-purpose surgical instrument which can perform more than a single function during even the most complex perio-dontal surgical operations. For instance, the "closed-ended blades" of this perio-dontal surgical apparatus, hereinafter described in more detail, can be used to cut the gingiva or gum during a Gingivectomy, Gingivoplasty (shaping the gingiva to attain physiological gingival contours) or for Osteoplasty or the scraping of dead or diseased material from the tooth itself. It is also contemplated that this instrument may also be used in Root-Planning and Osseous Recontouring.
In order to eliminate some of the problems of the previous perio-dontal surgical techniques, some practioner's have even resorted to electrosurgery for the destruction and removal of diseased tissues. This, however, requires very sophisticated instrumentation and also can result in problems of increased healing time once the perio-dontal surgical pack is removed from the place of incision. Also, electrosurgery is not believed to be as safe a surgical technique (i.e., the bone may be touched) as can be accomplished with the instant perio-dontal surgical instrument.